Southern Polytechnic State University's Curtis Sartor, head of the university's architecture program, participated in a recent national workshop dealing with the lack of African-American representation in the architecture field.

The event was sponsored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Held at the AIA headquarters in Washington, D.C., the workshop was facilitated by diversity expert Patricia Digh, and attracted researchers and practitioners in the field of architecture and environmental design from around the country.

According to Professor Sartor, only 1% of registered architects in the United States are African-Americans, and that number has remained steady for 30 years.

"While other industries have seen more diversification, the architecture field has remained unchanged for a long time. One of the goals of this event was to look at the situation and determine how we can open the door to African-Americans," he said.

At the conference, Sartor proposed nine major reasons so few African Americans enter the field: lack of awareness of architecture as a career option; lack of visibility of African-American architects; lack of monetary rewards within the profession; lack of power and influence compared to other professions; isolation of African-American students in architecture programs; low SAT scores; the fact that architecture is not considered intrinsic to African-American students; family opposition; and racism.

Among the recommendations made at the workshop for recruiting African Americans were high school visitations, summer programs, scholarships, and grants and loans. "The committee also recommended better exposure and education about the profession in middle and high schools, and increasing role model visibility in the industry," said Sartor.